naturalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to confer upon (an alien) the rights and privileges of a citizen.
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to introduce (organisms) into a region and cause them to flourish as if native.
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to introduce or adopt (foreign practices, words, etc.) into a country or into general use.
to naturalize a French phrase.
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to bring into conformity with nature.
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to regard or explain as natural rather than supernatural.
to naturalize miracles.
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to adapt or accustom to a place or to new surroundings.
verb (used without object)
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to become naturalized.
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to adapt as if native to a new environment, set of circumstances, etc.
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to study or carry on research in natural history.
verb
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(tr) to give citizenship to (a person of foreign birth)
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to be or cause to be adopted in another place, as a word, custom, etc
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(tr) to introduce (a plant or animal from another region) and cause it to adapt to local conditions
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(intr) (of a plant or animal) to adapt successfully to a foreign environment and spread there
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(tr) to explain (something unusual) with reference to nature, excluding the supernatural
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(tr) to make natural or more lifelike
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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naturalizesimple
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naturalizessimple
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have naturalizedperfect
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has naturalizedperfect
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am naturalizingprogressive
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are naturalizingprogressive
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is naturalizingprogressive
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have been naturalizingperfect progressive
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has been naturalizingperfect progressive
Past
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naturalizedsimple
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had naturalizedperfect
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was naturalizingprogressive
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were naturalizingprogressive
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had been naturalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of naturalize
Explanation
To naturalize is to make someone a citizen of a country or to adapt to living in a new place or enviroment. Naturalizing has several meanings that are all variations on the idea of becoming native. When an immigrant is naturalized, they become a full citizen of a country. Other types of naturalizing also involve foreign people or things fitting in. A foreign term — like adios — is naturalized because many English-only speakers use it. When something or someone is naturalized, they've learned to live and fit in somewhere new. They now fit in naturally.
Vocabulary lists containing naturalize
"A Place to Call Home," Vocabulary from the research study
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The 14th Amendment (1868)
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The Distance Between Us
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The people who are inside prisons naturalize them as much as people on the outside.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Nearly a dozen of my cousins left their native-born countries to come to the U.S. and eventually naturalize.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2025
County were legal permanent residents eligible to naturalize as of May 2024, according to U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2025
Many more permanent residents in such battleground states are likely to naturalize in coming years.
From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2023
The social and technological process by which we establish facts becomes invisible to us because we naturalize it.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
In effect, the movie naturalizes the urban environment.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2022
Hamaguchi likes to stack the narrative decks, and he’s fearless about folding in contrivances, which he naturalizes by not overworking them.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
A staunch proponent of tighter immigration policies, the SVP says Switzerland naturalizes more foreigners than any other European nation, and official figures seem to support that claim.
From Time Magazine Archive
The opening words of the 14th Amendment of 1868 say: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Birthright citizenship comes from the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads, in part, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
The 14th Amendment states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Duggan, a naturalized Australian citizen, faces extradition to the U.S. and denies the allegations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
“You are, I see, a naturalized American subject?”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
According to Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link, the group that assisted me in my reinstatement process, adoption agencies actively discouraged adoptive parents from maintaining Korean citizenship for their children while naturalizing them in their new countries.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022
Those are the people who are naturalizing and moving to the state.
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2021
Nearly six years since entering its embassy, Ecuador recently ramped-up efforts to secure Mr. Assange’s exit, including naturalizing him late last year after London refused Quito’s request to grant him diplomatic status.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 23, 2018
Many here point to France and the United States as examples of countries that have benefited from naturalizing athletes who were born abroad.
From New York Times ● Oct. 9, 2017
Laws, however, have been enacted for naturalizing aliens after they shall have resided here long enough to become acquainted with and attached to our government.
From The Government Class Book Designed for the Instruction of Youth in the Principles of Constitutional Government and the Rights and Duties of Citizens. by Young, Andrew W.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
